"Detention is like a scar that disappears over time. The important thing is that it is in no case a reason for marginalization, foreclosure, foreclosure".
The President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella says this while answering some questions from the boys of the penal institute for minors of Nisida.
"There are so many people who have been detained and have had successful experiences in life; it doesn't just happen in movies. The important thing is that detention does not result in an indelible stain but is a scar that disappears. duty to facilitate reintegration into social life ", he concluded.
Mattarella replies to those who ask him "why prisoners should be labeled for life even if they have participated in the rehabilitation program?". "In any community where you live together there are rules. In our country these rules are the laws, once decided by the sovereign, now the Parliament elected by the citizens decides them, therefore they are rules chosen by the majority of citizens. these rules - underlines Mattarella - creates a break in this social pact and the community reacts in a graduated manner according to the seriousness of the violation of the rules. It is true that the detention remains as a trace in the criminal record, not in the documents, but this should not be overrated and cannot under any circumstances become a sort of brand that remains and precludes or marginalizes ".
In short, for the Head of State "That fracture and violation of rules is like when you injure yourself and the body reacts to close that wound. Almost all of us have scars, I have one here", says Mattarella, pointing to his forehead. "I was three years old and I fell down the stairs and I remember the pain but I don't notice it anymore, also because the scar is disappearing. Here, detention is a scar that disappears over time and should no longer be considered because it is not the characteristic of the person: therefore it is important that no case is a reason for marginalization, setting aside, foreclosure ".
Hence, the president explains;
"There are many people who have had experiences of detention and are fully integrated, successfully, in life. What is important is the duty of the state, and I am here to reaffirm it, that this does not in any case turn into a sort of indelible stain ".
And he underlines "the duty to facilitate reintegration into social life: this perspective must be guaranteed not in words but in the behavior of the legal system and with the social behavior of other people, with the trust that it is necessary to have and develop in a particularly strong way, starting from value of each person. My words must be translated into real behavior in social life ".